Just thank your deity that you don’t live in a rent controlled city/state.

I own 3 SFR in Columbia MO (I live in KCMO) and was using property mgmt, but due to similar difficulties you faced, I opted to self manage and stopped using my mgmt company.

@Luis Cerwin as others have stated, Nov - Jan is the worst time of year to have a vacancy.Majority of tenants live paycheck-to-paycheck, so all their income goes to Holiday spending starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then xmas, then NYE.January is also historically the worst month for rent payments due to Holiday Hangover Spending.

These are not long-term rental properties, and our guests are traveling to the desert for vacation, not because they need a place to live for two nights on a weekend. 

Ivan had a big town hall meeting where investors were invited to Indy to a live presentation..

We are currently living just south of Boston and are looking to purchase a 2-4 unit property in which we would live in one of the units.

Hey Sarah, I'm a big advocate for self-managing even from out of state.I manage my 12-doors in Detroit and live in California.

I assume you want to live in one side of it?

Yea, the guide is a living document that I've updated several times throughout the years.

well if I ever make it to the Smokies to see what the draw is  I will rent a condo then :)  I am just guess but I suspect folks that go there want to be in the woods and hear the birds and maybe some local mtn views etc.. or some sort of privacy they never get at home out east were there is not very much public lands close to where they live in the big city. ????